Clasps for jewelry



Dec. 6, 1955 E. SMITH p fi CLASPS FOR JEWELRY Filed March 19, 1952 F l[5 I INVENTOR' 5' By FIE-6 M 7 United States Patent" P CLASPS' FORJEWELRY Ernest Smith,. Jamestown; N. Y.

Application March 19', 195.2,,Serial'No. 277,385

1 Claim. (Cl. 24=230)- This, invention relates. ot articles of jewelrysuch as bracelets, necklaces and all other items which, are placedabout, the, neck or armof a wearer, andmore particularly to clasps bywhich, such articles may befastenedlinplace.

Clasps have generally, in the past, been considered merely a necessarypart. of. a bracelet. or necklace and for many years. were made as smalland inconspicuous as possible in order that. they would not, detractfrom the ornamental effect of articles to which. they were, applied.Sjuch, clasps included minute, delicate, operative. parts. These partsfrequently became, out. of orderv and, at best, were extremely diflicultto operate, especially when used with a necklace. As with other.articles, jewelry of this class, for satisfactory; enjoyment of thewearer, is entirely dependent on the clasp that holds it in place. Itisimmaterialwhetherthe bracelet or necklaceisof the relatively'inexpensive costume jewelry type or of considerable value.Thefactremains that the owner of such an article does not wish to loseit and is entirely dependent on the quality of the clasp to prevent suchloss. Apparently too little attention on the part of manufacturingjewelers has been given to the structural features of clasps, with theresult that bracelets and necklaces were frequently lost due to theclasps failure.

More recently the size of clasps has been increased to enable use oflarger, more rugged, operative parts. This increase in size necessitatedspecial designing to render the clasp ornamental, in a complementarymanner, to the article with which it was used. However, even increasingthe size did not apparently result in a satisfactory structure, as itwas still difiicult to operate the clasps and such difliculty gave riseto forcing the operation thereof, with resultant damage thereto.

The present invention is directed to and has for an object the provisionof a clasp for use with a bracelet or necklace that, although ofrelatively small proportions, is easily operable in any place of use.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a clasp thathas positive means for securing the joinable parts thereof againstseparation.

A further and important object of the invention lies in the provision ofa clasp that has a simple, slidable locking part that is yieldingly heldin operative position.

Another and important object of the invention lies in the provision of aclasp in which a slidable cover plate is movable to expose or enclose apin receiving recess.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from a consideration of the follow ing specification, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawing; in which- Fig. 1 is afront elevational view of a clasp embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged vertical sectional view of the clasp withthe knob in elevation, being taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig.4, and shows the parts in pin securing position;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and shows the operative parts in aposition to release the pin;

Patented Dec. 6, 1955 Fig. 4' is an enlarged top. plan view of theclaspv shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, being takensubstantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6' is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line66ofFig .-2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the reference numeral. 10 isemployed to generally designate a clasp in which one formv of thepresent invention is embodied; As shown in the drawing, the. clasp isjoined to the ends of a chain of rope 11 of a necklace I2. Suitablerings 13 and loops 14' connect the separable terminals. 16 of the clasp,with the. chain or rope ends. It will; of course, be understood' 'thatthe particular manner in which the chain or rope of a necklacev isattached to the terminals 16 constitutes no part of the presentinvention and'may be varied'as found most suitable from a practical orornamental standpoint. It will also be understood that the showing of anecklace is merely'illustrativ'e of one application of the invention andthat the invention may be utilized with equal facility as a means ofvsecuring the ends of'a bracelet.

The clasp 10* comprises. a body member 17' which,. in the presentshowing, is of generally rectangular form. Thismember includes end walls18 and 19,.base. wall 21, and front wall 22. A partition 23 divides theinterior ofthe member into two compartments 24 and 262 Compartment 24 isat an end of the member opposite that of terminal 1 6; A top wall 27only encloses the compartment 26, leavingthe upper end of compartment 24open. Thevarious walls' and partition so far described as constituting:the body member are. made integral; A rear wall 28 is applied to themember and, for convenience in assembly, as Well as appearance, theedges of this wall are stepped, substantially as indicated at 29 in Fig.5, corresponding steps being formed in the other walls of the memberwith which this rear wall is engaged.

The wall 27 that closes the top of compartment 26 is formed with a slot31 that extends in a direction of the length of this wall. Mounted onwall 27 is a plate 32 that is of the width of the member and extends thefull length thereof. A finger grip or knob 33 extends upwardly from thecentral top portion of the plate. Attached to or formed integral withthis plate is a depending neck 34, to which is joined an elongated bar36. The connection of the neck 34 is with the central portion of the barand the spacing of this bar from the plate provides space in which toreceive those portions of the top wall 27 that define the slot 31.Depending from one end of the bar 36 is a flange 37 which is aperturedto receive a rod 38. This rod extends nearly the full length of thecompartment 26 and is secured in any suitable manner at one end to themember wall 18. The inner face of flange 37 mounts a washer 39 whichreceives one end of an expansion spring 41. This spring encircles therod 38 and has its other end in abutment with the inner face of the wall18. The spring 41, under normal expansion, moves the flange 37 and theconnected bar and plate 36 and 32, respectively, to the position on themember shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. In this position it will be notedthat one end of the plate 32 completely closes the open end ofcompartment 24. When the plate 32 is moved from the position of Fig. 2to that of Fig. 3, the open end of the compartment 24 is exposed andspring 41 has been compressed and continually urges return of the plate32 to a covering position over the compartment.

The other part of the clasp 10 consists of a terminal identical with theterminal 16. This terminal, however, has joined to it a pin 42 which, inthe present instance, is in the nature of a cylindrical body. The pin isso proportioned that it may be readily projected into the compartment24. Of course, in order to interfit this pin with the walls of 'thecompartment, the end wall 19 of the member 17 is providedwith avertically extending slot 43. This slot is closed at its lower end wherethe wall 19'joins the base wall 21', and is open at its upper end toenable projecting the innermost portion of the terminal 16 thereinto.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, a brief descriptionof the assembly and operation of the parts is set out. Prior toassembling the rear wall 28 with the body member 17, the plate 32 ismounted, the bar 36 thereof interfitting with the top wall 27. At thetime of mounting the plate 32, the rod 38 and spring 41 are alsoinserted. Following this assembly, the rear wall 28 is engaged with thebody member 17 and may be permanently secured thereto in any suitablemanner, such as with solder or by slightly rolling over the edges of thewalls of the body member onto the rear wall 28. The plate 32 may now bemoved to expose the open end of the compartment 24, and the combinedterminal and pin assembled with the member 17. Upon release of the knob33, the plate closes the open end of the compartment 24 and secures thepin against displacement. When the clasp, thus assembled, is joined tothe ends of a bracelet or chain, it is ready for use.

It is pointed out that through the use of a readily slidable plate thatserves as a closure for a pin receiving compartment, it is possible toprovide a clasp that cannot, under almost any condition of use, becomeinadvertently open and the parts thereof separated. It will also beapparent that through the use of a very simply constructed slidingplate, a user of the clasp has no difiiculty with its operation and,therefore, regardless of the minuteness of the clasp, the operativeparts are in nowise subjected to improper handling or operation.

Although applicant has shown and described only one form of hisinvention, it will be apparent that the parts of the structure of thebody member of the clasp, as well as the bracelet or necklace engagingterminals, may be varied as found desirable, both as to size and shape,without in any way departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas set out in the annexed claim.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim as new and for which Idesire protection by Letters Patent A clasp for a necklace or the likecomprising a body member having an attaching terminal at one endthereof, walls forming a compartment at the other end of said member,said compartment having an opening to the exterior through one Wall ofsaid member, one of the walls of said compartment having a slotterminating in said compartment opening, a plate mounted on said member,said plate being movable into and out of position to close said openingand the end of said slot, a bar forming part of said plate andcooperating therewith to interfit a slotted wall of said member, aflange depending from said bar and projecting into said member, a rod insaid member projecting through an opening in said flange and beinganchored at one end to a wall of said member, a spring encircling saidrod, said spring normally urging said plate into position to close saidopening and the end of said slot, and a combined pin and attachingterminal, said terminal projecting through said slot when said pin islocated in said compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS938,267 Morris Oct. 26, 1909 1,467,465 Wiedmann Sept. 11, 1923 2,449,167Hopewell Sept. 14, 1948

